Short Answer Questions

4. What does Kubler-Ross tell the clergy that their tools for helping the terminally ill really are?

5. What is the patient in the last chapter suffering from the most?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does death seem like to a five-year-old child?

2. How does Kubler-Ross say death can be for the patient who is ready to meet it?

3. What does Kubler-Ross emphasize as the most important thing for terminal patients to do?

4. What was the most frustrating part of the last patient's illness?

5. How does the hospital staff initially respond to Kubler-Ross's seminars?

6. What helped sustain the seventeen-year-old girl during her terminal illness?

7. What did the seminars give terminal patients an excuse to do?

8. At whom was the last patient in the book so angry?

9. Why were some of the doctors so hostile towards Kubler-Ross and her staff?

10. For whom does the courageous female patient feel sorry?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the experience of the Catholic nun, and explain why this lengthy interview was included in the book.

Essay Topic 2

When can encouragement be a negative thing for a terminal patient, and what are some ways to know when to avoid it?

Essay Topic 3

Mr. E. was particularly frustrated about one effect of his illness. What was this frustration, and how did this affect his grieving process? What are some things that Kubler-Ross advised him to do about this, and what effect did this advice have on Mr. E.?